Holiday Entices Crowds To Hit The Beach

Authorities Expect Heavy Traffic On Sand And Water

May 28, 1999|By Anthony Burke Boylan, Tribune Staff Writer.

Summer is officially three weeks away, but that fact will be lost on thousands of Chicago-area residents who head for beaches, lakes and pools this Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer.

From Chicago's lakefront to the Chain o' Lakes and Crystal Lake, Wonder Lake and Hilltop and Indian Trail beaches in between, many recreation areas will either open or have their biggest weekend thus far.

Authorities say Memorial Day is among the biggest weekends of the year for recreational boaters.

"There's going to be a lot of boats out there," said Sgt. Kevin Parker of the Lake County Sheriff's Department marine unit.

Memorial Day is also among the busiest weekends of the year for area hospitals.

"We see mostly minor injuries, bumps and bruises, but we do see an increased number of kids with fractures due to falls on their fingers, hands and wrists," said Dr. John Sarwark, attending physician and director of child safety at Children's Memorial Hospital.

Many injuries are from in-line skating or biking, which increases exponentially with warm weather and free time.

Also increasing is the number of serious injuries caused when skaters and cyclers are hit by cars and swimmers dive into shallow water.

Lifeguards begin duty this weekend in Crystal Lake. The main beach will have lifeguards all day on weekends and from 3 p.m. until dusk on weekdays until school is out.

Then beaches will be open from 9 a.m. until dusk every day through Labor Day weekend.

West Beach will be open on weekends until school is out, when it will have the same hours as the main beach. West Beach closes Aug. 22.

In Lake in the Hills, Hilltop and Indian Trail beaches open Saturday and remain in business until Sept. 6.

Hilltop will have guards from June 5 to Aug. 22 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Indian Trail will be guarded from Saturday to Aug. 22 during the same hours and then again over Labor Day weekend.

Summer seems to get a jump-start in the Midwest for a couple of reasons.

Summer solstice to autumnal equinox is a period of only 94 days. To urban commuters who consider summer construction season, that may seem like an eternity. But for children out of school and off to the beach, the time goes by like 94 minutes.

And while 75- and 80-degree days might not seem all that hot to a Floridian, they're a long way from the subzero wind chills and 18 inches of snow that fell in a single 24-hour period here in January.